Energy

13 Jan 2012

How to Sell Electric Cars

by John Farrell | Date: 13 Jan 2012 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 0

Maggie Koerth-Baker wrote an excellent essay on the value of electric vehicles (a rebuttal to the idea that Americans hate EVs), but this paragraph could stand alone as the “reason to buy an electric car.”

3) Screw you, electric cars are fun to drive.

Look, I know this is purely subjective. But “not fun,” Johnson? Seriously? Have you gotten a chance to floor the accelerator on a Nissan Leaf on a stretch of empty one-way street? Because I have. And it’s hella fun. Electric motors don’t shift gears the way internal combustion engines do. Which means, when you accelerate, you just keep accelerating, without the slow-down that accompanies each shift up. Which means you’re slammed back in your seat like you’re riding a motherf***ing rocket ship to the moon. Only it’s silent. How is that not awesome? If I buy an electric car, I am going to get sooooo many speeding tickets**. I think that’s pretty much the all-American definition of a fun car.

12 Jan 2012

How Electricity Pricing Can Boost Distributed Solar – Part 1

by John Farrell | Date: 12 Jan 2012 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 1

Note: This is a revision of the same post from last week, with an updated time-of-use pricing plan from Los Angeles. What if electricity cost more when the sun was shining? Many utilities are using new electronic “smart meters” to adjust the price of electricity as often as every 15 minutes, to reflect supply and demand. … Read More

12 Jan 2012

Solar Grid Parity 101

by John Farrell | Date: 12 Jan 2012 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 7

Solar grid parity is considered the tipping point for solar power, when installing solar power will cost less than buying electricity from the grid. It’s also a tipping point in the electricity system, when millions of Americans can choose energy production and self-reliance over dependence on their electric utility. But this simple concept conceals a great … Read More

11 Jan 2012

Democratic energy policy means strong public support for renewables

by John Farrell | Date: 11 Jan 2012 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 1

Conducted by market research institute Forsa on behalf of municipal utilities in Germany, the survey found that 61 percent of Germans are willing to pay more for their power if the extra cost helps ramp up the share of renewables. Public acceptance even extends to acceptance of wind turbines “in my backyard”; 54 percent of those surveyed said they would find it “good” or “very good” if a wind turbine were set up nearby.

That’s the German feed-in tariff at work…

9 Jan 2012

How Electricity Pricing Can Boost Distributed Solar – Part 1

by John Farrell | Date: 9 Jan 2012 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 2

Update 1/12/12: I created a new post to reflect the current time-of-use pricing plan for Los Angeles Update 1/10/12: Fixed a missing pie chart and corrected a miscalculation caught by a reader What if electricity cost more when the sun was shining? Many utilities are using new electronic “smart meters” to adjust the price of electricity … Read More

3 Jan 2012

Some Skepticism on Solar Thermal Power’s Storage Potential

by John Farrell | Date: 3 Jan 2012 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 2

Yesterday New York Times reporter Matt Wald had a piece on the role of energy storage in supporting the expansion of renewable energy. However, his specific focus on solar thermal power generation overlooks the potentially high costs of relying on solar thermal power as well as the potential for distributed “storehousing” of renewable energy. Solar thermal … Read More

19 Dec 2011

Listen: John Farrell Talks Democratizing the Electricity System Through Decentralizing Power on WKBM

by ILSR | Date: 19 Dec 2011 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States, Media Coverage | 0

In this Nov. 20 interview with Baruch on his WKBM Paradigms program, we talked about: The coming decentralization of the electricity system The folly of a building inherently decentralized technology (wind and solar) in a centralized fashion The benefits for local ownership of a decentralized system How limited economies of scale for solar and wind power … Read More

15 Dec 2011

Listen: John Farrell Talks Renewable Energy Incentives and Boulder’s Municipal Energy Effort with Tom McKinnon on KGNU

by ILSR | Date: 15 Dec 2011 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States, Media Coverage | 0

In this short interview on KGNU’s science show – How on Earth– with Tom McKinnon, we talk about: the problems presented for local ownership of energy resources when federal incentives use the tax code, the trouble for clean energy when it’s reliant on Wall Street, how Boulder, CO, may accomplish something remarkable with its vote to … Read More

14 Dec 2011

Mapping Solar Grid Parity

by John Farrell | Date: 14 Dec 2011 | posted in: Energy, Energy Self Reliant States | 51

Where does solar grid parity strike first? How fast does it spread? Click “animate” on the map below to see which major metropolitan areas can beat grid prices with local solar first, and how quickly unsubsidized solar could take over America’s major metropolitan areas.